Player: WR George Pickens
Stock Value: Sold
Reasoning: The Steelers are trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys, pending a physical, though Dallas already announced the move anyway. After three seasons in Pittsburgh, the organization had seen enough and chose to take early draft pick compensation. The Steelers will certainly miss his talent on the field this season, but not his antics. And beyond the 2025 season, it was probably moot, anyway.
Well, we have to take a little detour here today instead of wrapping up our draft class segment, I suppose. The Steelers made a bit of news yesterday, finalizing a trade to send WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. As of this writing, the move isn’t technically yet official, as he has to complete a physical first. The Cowboys themselves already put it out on social media, though, so that seems official enough, if not “officially official”. As the kids say.
I’m old. Anyway.
The Steelers will get a 2026 third-round pick from the Cowboys for George Pickens. The two teams will also exchange late-round picks in 2027, the Steelers gaining a fifth for a sixth. While many hoped Pittsburgh might fetch a second-round pick, I’m not surprised that proved hard to sell.
After all, for as talented as he is, Pickens doesn’t score enough to justify a big investment in him. He is in a contract year and neither he nor the Cowboys want to sign a long-term deal now. This is a one-year trial period, quite possibly a rental year, so that lowers the price.
As for the Steelers, yeah, they are less talented in 2025 without Pickens. But they were not going to have him in 2026 anyway, and now instead have a 2026 third-round pick. That’s better than a potential 2027 third-round pick in the compensatory portion of the draft. And it’s more ammunition for potentially trading up in the draft for a quarterback next year—in Pittsburgh.
With the new league year underway and the Steelers turning their roster over, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract.
There is still a long way to go before we know what this Steelers team is going to look like. The dust is settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. What other moves might the team make, perhaps unexpected acquisitions or departures? If they traded for one player, they could certainly trade for another, or trade one away. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
